Liberation and its relation to Divine Love

A gyani might say,  “Yes, but we get liberation from gyan.  We want liberation. We don’t want your devotion.” No problem, liberation will be received very easily. God has no problem granting liberation. When Kagbhushundi stood before Lord Ram, Ram said, “Ask for a boon.” He kept quiet. Ram said, “What should I do? Alright, listen, I’ll tell you what you should ask for. You aren’t very clever.” He said, "Great psychic powers." Kagbhushundi made a face. Then he said, "Great wealth." Kagbhushundi made a face.  Then Ram said,
"Liberation," which is supreme Bliss, spiritual happiness, Divine Bliss, unlimited happiness.  Hearing this, Kagbhushundi became serious. He said, “Whatever You are giving, I don’t want.”

Ram said, “You don’t even want liberation?” “No. If You want to give me something, then give me what I request.” Ram asked, “What is that?” Kagbhushundi answered, “I want Your selfless devotion.” This is vishuddh bhakti, the absolute supreme essence of ahladini shakti, which is attained only through a true Spiritual Master. Great self-realized paramhansas search for this, but they can’t find it, because it is attained through Grace.

Liberation is such that freedom from maya is attained, but not Divine love explains Kripaluji Maharaj. The Bhagwatam explains there are five kinds of liberation: sarshti, salokya, saroopya, sameepya, and the fifth, sayujya. A selfless devotee doesn’t desire these five. One out of these five kinds of liberations is dangerous.  It is called sayujya liberation, ekatva liberation, or kaivalya liberation. In this, the soul merges in God. In the other four kinds of liberation, a soul receives a Divine body, mind, and intellect. He resides in the abode of the personal form of God such as Maha Vishnu, etc. But he was selfish; he asked for something from God. He wasn't selfless.  He didn’t remain in the class of Gopi love.

Lord Narsingh said to Prahlad, “Ask for a boon.” Prahlad said, “What is this? What is my beloved God saying to me? ‘Ask Me for a boon’? This means something is wrong in me. Do I have any desire? That is why God told me to ask for a boon.” Lord Narsingh said again, “I’m telling you to ask for a boon!” Prahlad thought, “I should reply in such a way that He stops asking me.” So Prahlad said, “Maharaj, may I ask?” “Yes! Ask.” “Then I request the boon of never asking anything of You.  May I never have the desire to ask for anything from You. Please give me this boon.” Because if we ask for something today, then we will ask a second time, then a third time, so we will always remain beggars. We are the children of a great Divine father. We are not beggars.

A devotee thinks, “Whatever You want to give me, whatever is good for me, please give that.” He doesn’t ask for anything. Hiranakashipu was such a knowledgeable asker.  To avoid death, he really applied his intellect: “I shouldn't die during the day or night, not on the earth or in the sky, not as a result of a man or animal, and not from any weapon.” He made such a long list and God said, “Fine. I am more intelligent than you.” And God killed him.  One should have the intelligence to ask. What will we ask for? Uncountable lifetimes have passed begging and we continued to be beggars. What did we do in all the 8.4 millions life forms? We kept on begging, “Mom, give me happiness! Dad, give me happiness! My dear wife, give me happiness!” We kept on begging for happiness, as dogs, cats, donkeys – in all the life forms.

Prahlad said, “So, Lord! As far as asking is concerned, please give me the boon of not asking for anything.” The meaning of ‘servant’ is to serve, to give happiness to one’s Master. A servant doesn’t have the right to ask. If the Master gives and the servant takes, that's another thing. Our all-capable Master becomes our servant. God is called in the scriptures swatantrah karta, completely free. When God comes before a bhakt, this gets reversed. Krishn says, “I become his servant.  My Bhakt becomes My master, and I become his servant." For example, Hanuman and other monkeys are sitting in a tree and Ram is sitting underneath. Ram doesn’t have the awareness to scold them, “Hey! How disrespectful! Sit down here!” Nor is it occurring to Hanuman, “How rude of us that our Master is sitting under the tree and we are sitting above Him.” He is also in a Divine love trance. This is dasya bhao.

So from devotee's point of view, liberation is extremely undesireable. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to the extent of saying that extreme foolishness is called ‘kaitav’. There are four things that are ‘kaitav': dharm, arth, kam, mokch. Dharm, arth, and kam means worldly happiness, and mokch (liberation) is beyond worldly happiness, it refers to Divine happiness.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that liberation is the greatest foolishness and danger. If liberation is attained, one will never receive Divine love. When Ved Vyas started the Bhagwatam, he said in the second verse of the first chapter of the first Canto, “In the Bhagwatam, I am revealing that dharm which is free of ‘kaitav’.”  The meaning of ‘kaitav’ is that one shouldn’t desire worldly prosperity and liberation. A follower of Shankaracharya and great scholar, Shreedharacharya, wrote a long commentary on the Bhagwatam. He explained 'kaitva' as dharm whichis free from all desires including liberation.  So what is that dharm which is free of all desires including liberation? It is Bhagwat dharm, the dharm of bhakti (devotion).

The Gita describes liberation and then the Gita ends. Where the Gita ends, the Bhagwatam begins. It criticizes liberation. “I don’t want liberation!” A devotee repeatedly says, “I don’t want liberation!” The Sankadik Paramhans say that liberation is useless. Swami Prabodhanand says liberation is like hell. Lord Shiv says the celestial abodes, abodes of hell, and liberation are all like hell.

Sometimes liberation in a personal form comes before a bhakt. When she stands before a bhakt, the bhakt scolds her. “Who are you?” “Maharaj, I am liberation.” “Liberation? Who called you?  Why have you come here?”  “Maharaj, don’t you do devotion to Krishn?” “Yes.” “I want to serve whoever does Krishn devotion by becoming his servant.”  “Ohhh! This is why you have come?” “Yes.” “Stay away!” It's like what a caste-conscious orthodox brahman would say to a very low caste person. A devotee speakslike this to liberation, “Have you come here to ruin me?” “Oh no! I have come to serve you.” “Even if I were to smell you, it would ruin my remembrance of Krishn’s name, form, virtues, and abode.” Another devotee says, “Why are you standing at my door to serve me? Go away!” Liberation, the spiritual goddess of the gyanis, becomes the servant of the bhaktas, but the bhaktas reject her. A bhakt knows that liberation happens automatically through devotion. You must have heard the story of Satyavan and Savitri.

Yamraj, the god of death, came for Satyavan because it was his time of death.  He told Savitri, his wife, “You won’t get your husband. His time is finished. I'm taking him. Ask me for any other boon.” Savitri thought, ‘Now he has fallen into my trap’. She said, “You'll give me a boon, right?” “Yes, I told you so.” “Then I want a hundred sons.” “A hundred sons? Alright, I grant you this.” “You grant me this? Then why are you taking my husband?  Will I have these sons without my husband?  A hundred son means 100 – 200 years of my husband's life are definite.” Yamraj said, “Oh! I made a mistake. But I have already promised, so I will have to restore Satyavan’s life.”

In conclusion, Kripaluji Maharaj believes that devotion is such that the liberation of gyan is attained automatically. Liberation comes by itself. This is the reason a devoteedoesn’t want liberation.  He doesn't even want the four kinds of liberation of the bhaktas. He says, “I only want to serve Krishn. I don’t want or desire anything else."